Ash and Tears
by SorchaCahill
Summary: A short telling of that last battle. Duty and honor come first beyond all else. Most likely a one-shot. May or may not be part of my other DA Origins stories. Rated T just in case.


She dreamt of dragons. She dreamed of fire and pain. She dreamed of loss.

Images, painfully bright and sharp slammed relentlessly into her. The dragon was foremost. It would not allow anything else. Its bellow shook the marrow in her bones, making her palms sweat even as she gripped her blades tighter.

Flame scorched the earth around her, turning the warriors beside her, her kinsmen, to ash. Arrows of ice and poison shimmered in the night sky but very few reached their intended target. Creatures of such horror burst out of the ground around her, cutting a bloody swath through her army.

Her army. Even as her brain denied such a thing, her soul knew it with a certainty that could not be shaken. At her side were her most valued and trusted companions; well, not all, there was one being kept back from the battle.

The dragon roared again, sending out a battle cry for its brethren to march or fly forward. There were many dragons on the battlefield, but there was only one that was her target. Only one that mattered.

She charged forward, her companions standing as her vanguard. Everywhere around them their opponents fell, unable to stand against their power and fury.

Wading through blood and filth she charged forward, striving toward her goal. Standing before the grand dragon, this demon of the old gods, she knew that this was her moment. This was her sacrifice.

The decision had been easy. Her life in exchange for his. With that love in her heart, she charged at the demon, striking where she could, her acid-coated blades slicing through its hide, its blood showering her as she countered its attacks. Her own blood mixed with the demon's on the rapidly saturated ground.

Its tail lashed through the air, swiping back its attackers, but they stood firm. All of them were of one mind: if they gave their lives to ensure its death, their souls would rest easy.

It was one slip. One tiny slip that had her on her back. She tried to scramble back to her feet, but the dragon pinned her body to the ground with a giant claw. Bones cracked and snapped under its weight and she felt her essence leak out of her.

Fury raged through her. No, this was not how it was supposed to happen. She was meant to die yes, but it was to be when her blade sunk into the demon's heart, allowing its essence to bleed into her. She was to trade her life for the survival of Fereldan and its people, for all of Thedas. It was her duty, her mission, her promise.

She was able to sink the dagger in her free arm into the webbing of its claw. The action did not make it release her, but it did bring the dragon's head around to face hers.

Its breath was putrid, the flesh of a thousand souls rotting in its mouth. The glow of its eyes turned on her, and she wanted to shrink in fear, but her sense of duty overcame her fear.

She sank her blade again into the beast's giant clawed foot. Again and again she drove it in, but it wasn't enough for it to release her. Her arm grew tired, her blood loss weakening her, but she could not stop. Perhaps it was futile, but it was not in her nature to yield.

A blot of green light flashed above her, striking the dragon in the eyes. The beast roared in pain and finally released her. The loss of its weight pinning her down made her vision momentarily go white, but it soon returned as she felt hands pulling her back, pulling her away from her duty.

Struggling against the unwanted help, she spied a figure launching itself at the dragon, flying through the air with a supernatural ease. A slim form with black hair landed on the dragon's chest, just below where its heart lay.

She struggled forward as the person she had come to know as a friend sink a poison-coated dagger into the dragon's chest, piercing the heart. It was the first time the woman had used a blade, her preferred method of attack being of the arcane.

Both her dream-self and her real-self screamed out in agony. Not because the dragon's essence was melding with her, but because it wasn't. She could only watch, horrified, as what should have been hers leached into the black-haired woman.

She had failed her duty.

The woman pushed gracefully away from the falling dragon, landing neatly on her feet. Behind her brilliant light flashed into the sky as the dragon succumbed to the final blow. The woman's body had a golden-red glow around her as she approached, the dragon's life essence burning through every pore.

"I have taken what I needed. 'Tis nothing you can do about it now, just enjoy the second chance I gave you and move on as you wish. I have what I came for and say this one thing: do not follow me."

The woman faded into the mist, disappearing into the night. Her dream-self struggled to rise, but she only made it to hear knees. A howl of rage bellowed from her, letting loose all the pain within her.

Her sacrifice, her duty had been stolen from her. What had been her responsibility, the one she had freely taken, was lost. All that was left was betrayal. Betrayal and anger from two quarters. Betrayal and anger were all that remained.

The scream she let out in the dream followed into reality. Sweat soaked her skin and sheets twisted fiercely around her. The sense of betrayal had followed her out of the dream. Swiftly on its heels followed sorrow, and with it, emptiness.

All she could do at that point was curl into a ball and hug her pillow to her as sobs wracked her body. Bits of this dream had haunted her sleep before, but never with this intensity, never with this much fear, anguish and sorrow following her out.

Her tears mixed with sweat as she prayed to a god she didn't believe in to deliver her into oblivion.

...

**A/N: I intentionally left the characters nameless although it's pretty obvious who one is in particular. I also purposely left the names archdemon and darkspawn out. Not sure where I might go with this. It might stay a one-shot or could be something more. Will depend on feedback! :)**


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